Interview Excerpt (2001)

From Gineipaedia, the Legend of Galactic Heroes wiki

Crossing over the border between novel and anime and the jointly owned world of "LoGH"

It was the year 2000 when all 165 episodes of the anime, "The Legend of the Galactic Heroes," were completed and 12 years had passed since the first movie, "My Conquest is a Sea of Stars." The following year, the sale of a DVD-BOX containing all 45 volumes was to be announced, and the original author, Tanaka Yoshiki, looked back on the anime version of "The Legend of the Galactic Heroes" once again.

Now, having seen the anime, what are your impressions? Even the lines that made me think, "now that's clever," when I was writing them still make me feel embarrassed when I hear the voice actors actually say them out loud (lol).

How was it hearing the voice actors' voices for the first time? At the very beginning, I asked to be allowed to listen to the [candidates'] voices when voice actors for the main characters were being selected. When I heard the first set, I thought "It's this one for sure," but when I heard the next, I'd think "Ah, this one is great," I had to resign half way through (lol). I decided that I'd leave it to the experts and look forward to the finished product.

Why do you think they've supported it this far? Looking at the anime as an outsider, I think it's because the staff's earnest zeal got through to the viewers. As far as the original (the novel series) is concerned, to be honest, even as the author I don't know... If I knew that, I think I'd be able to put out hits one after the other, wouldn't I, but it's probably for the best (lol). When the images on the screen so clearly presented things like the sense of scale that I struggled with when I was writing, I remember thinking "this was so hard when I was writing this part" (lol).

Is there anything else you could tell us about the anime version? When people from the 20th century[1] say things like "I'm reading LoGH" and "When I saw the anime in elementary school, I really got into it," I feel like I've been struck in the back and calmly think "Ah, I'm really old aren't I" (lol). Whenever I talk to fans who read the novels first and then saw the anime, and fans who got into the novels through the anime, I end up wondering if they understand each other (lol), but it makes me happy to hear talk of kindred fans sharing their feelings and getting along. Please watch it as you please, and, other people might not understand it but, if you find a point where you say "for me, this is the best!" that makes me the happiest.